Special Report

The Largest Employer in Every State

RiverNorthPhotography / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

While millions of Americans lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest U.S. corporations and organizations continued to employ tens of thousands of workers.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the most recent employment figures for nonprofits and private and publicly held companies using company press releases, government data, business journals, local media reports, as well as statements from company representatives to determine the largest employer in each state.

Federal and state governments tend to employ more Americans in a given state than any private company. Government employees may work directly for government departments or for other organizations, such as public universities. We therefore considered such public employees separately. For instance, a number of public university systems rank as the top employers in their state. 

While large schools and health care companies employed many thousands of people, roughly 2.5 million Americans worked for either Walmart or Amazon. In most states, Walmart employed at least 20,000 people, and in half of all states, Amazon employed more than 10,000 people. Many of the jobs these companies offer have little or no prior work or educational requirements. While this makes them accessible to nearly anyone in the workforce, these jobs do not tend to pay high wages. These are the lowest paying jobs in America.

Click here to see largest employer in every state.
Click here to see our detailed methodology.

Wolterk / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Alabama
> Largest employer: University of Alabama System
> Employees: 45,000
> Industry: Education

[in-text-ad]

chamey / iStock via Getty Images

Alaska
> Largest employer: University of Alaska System
> Employees: 7,147
> Industry: Education

Arizona
> Largest employer: Banner Health
> Employees: 43,000
> Industry: Health care

wellesenterprises / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Arkansas
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 49,242
> Industry: Retail

[in-text-ad-2]

Sundry Photography / iStock via Getty Images

California
> Largest employer: University of California System
> Employees: 216,200
> Industry: Education

Colorado
> Largest employer: University of Colorado System
> Employees: 37,000
> Industry: Education

[in-text-ad]

Alexander Farnsworth / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Connecticut
> Largest employer: Yale New Haven Health
> Employees: 26,028
> Industry: Health care

senatorchriscoons / Flickr

Delaware
> Largest employer: ChristianaCare
> Employees: 12,181
> Industry: Health care

Roman Tiraspolsky / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Florida
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 103,550
> Industry: Retail

[in-text-ad-2]

Georgia
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 58,155
> Industry: Retail

Phil Mislinski / Getty Images News via Getty Images

Hawaii
> Largest employer: Hawaii Department of Education
> Employees: 25,000
> Industry: Education

[in-text-ad]

St. Luke's Health System / Facebook

Idaho
> Largest employer: St. Luke’s Health System
> Employees: 14,652
> Industry: Health care

Aneekr / Wikimedia Commons

Illinois
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 52,313
> Industry: Retail

Indiana
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 39,676
> Industry: Retail

[in-text-ad-2]

Courtesy of Adam F. via Yelp

Iowa
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 16,126
> Industry: Retail

Kansas
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 19,157
> Industry: Retail

[in-text-ad]

Kentucky
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 27,677
> Industry: Retail

Courtesy of Melody N. via Yelp

Louisiana
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 32,319
> Industry: Retail

MaineHealth Careers / Facebook

Maine
> Largest employer: MaineHealth
> Employees: 18,000
> Industry: Health care

[in-text-ad-2]

DelmasLehman / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Maryland
> Largest employer: Johns Hopkins Medicine
> Employees: 39,000
> Industry: Health care

appledesign / iStock via Getty Images

Massachusetts
> Largest employer: Mass General Brigham
> Employees: 74,013
> Industry: Health care

[in-text-ad]

tiny-al / iStock via Getty Images

Michigan
> Largest employer: University of Michigan System
> Employees: 51,669
> Industry: Education

OGphoto / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

Minnesota
> Largest employer: Mayo Clinic Hospital
> Employees: 51,750
> Industry: Health care

Mississippi
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 22,869
> Industry: Retail

[in-text-ad-2]

Missouri
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 39,442
> Industry: Retail

Montana
> Largest employer: University of Montana System
> Employees: 8,689
> Industry: Education

[in-text-ad]

RiverNorthPhotography / iStock via Getty Images

Nebraska
> Largest employer: University of Nebraska
> Employees: 13,709
> Industry: Education

jetcityimage / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Nevada
> Largest employer: MGM Resorts International
> Employees: 42,000
> Industry: Leisure and hospitality

Ken Gallager / Wikimedia Commons

New Hampshire
> Largest employer: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health Center
> Employees: 12,000
> Industry: Health care

[in-text-ad-2]

Wikimedia Commons/Raysonho

New Jersey
> Largest employer: Amazon
> Employees: 49,000
> Industry: Retail

JannHuizenga / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

New Mexico
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 13,055
> Industry: Retail

[in-text-ad]

Michael Loccisano / Getty Images News via Getty Images

New York
> Largest employer: New York City Department of Education
> Employees: 135,000
> Industry: Education

felixmizioznikov / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

North Carolina
> Largest employer: Atrium Health
> Employees: 62,400
> Industry: Health care

Courtesy of North Dakota State University via Facebook

North Dakota
> Largest employer: North Dakota University System
> Employees: 10,375
> Industry: Education

[in-text-ad-2]

ubidesperarenescio / Flickr

Ohio
> Largest employer: Ohio University System
> Employees: 106,459
> Industry: Education

DBinfo / Wikimedia Commons

Oklahoma
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 29,937
> Industry: Retail

[in-text-ad]

M.O. Stevens / Wikimedia Commons

Oregon
> Largest employer: Providence Health & Services
> Employees: 20,597
> Industry: Health care

bgwalker / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

Pennsylvania
> Largest employer: UPMC Presbyterian
> Employees: 65,000
> Industry: Health care

hasbrochildrenshospital.org

Rhode Island
> Largest employer: Lifespan System of Hospitals
> Employees: 16,094
> Industry: Health care

[in-text-ad-2]

Courtesy of Walmart Corporate Media / corporate.walmart.com

South Carolina
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 31,613
> Industry: Retail

Jake DeGroot / Wikimedia Commons

South Dakota
> Largest employer: Sanford Health Network
> Employees: 28,000
> Industry: Health care

[in-text-ad]

TennesseePhotographer / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Tennessee
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 38,250
> Industry: Retail

Brett_Hondow / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Texas
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 158,361
> Industry: Retail

C5Media / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Utah
> Largest employer: Intermountain Healthcare
> Employees: 37,467
> Industry: Health care

[in-text-ad-2]

Redjar. / Wikimedia Commons

Vermont
> Largest employer: Vermont State Colleges
> Employees: 8,800
> Industry: Education

Virginia
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 41,339
> Industry: Retail

[in-text-ad]

SEASTOCK / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Washington
> Largest employer: Amazon
> Employees: 80,000
> Industry: Retail

Courtesy of West Virginia University

West Virginia
> Largest employer: WVU Health System
> Employees: 20,000
> Industry: Health care

filo / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

Wisconsin
> Largest employer: University of Wisconsin System
> Employees: 40,000
> Industry: Education

[in-text-ad-2]

Alexander Farnsworth / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Wyoming
> Largest employer: Walmart
> Employees: 4,560
> Industry: Retail

Methodology

To determine the largest employer in each state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the most recent employment figures for nonprofits and private and publicly held companies using company press releases, government data, business journals, local media reports, as well as statements from company representatives. For the purposes of our analysis, we treated some state government employers like employees of public universities as independent organizations separately, in keeping with how states frequently identify and compare company headcounts. Military bases were excluded from the list. In some cases, the employment count of a hospital network primarily located in a state included a small portion of out-of-state employees. If the network was determined to be mostly in-state, we kept the total employment figure when a state-specific employment count could not be determined. In those cases and some others, the values included are listed as estimates. It should be noted that many employers do not publish employment counts, the companies listed are our best estimates based on research and publicly-available information.

Get Ready To Retire (Sponsored)

Start by taking a quick retirement quiz from SmartAsset that will match you with up to 3 financial advisors that serve your area and beyond in 5 minutes, or less.

Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests.

Here’s how it works:
1. Answer SmartAsset advisor match quiz
2. Review your pre-screened matches at your leisure. Check out the advisors’ profiles.
3. Speak with advisors at no cost to you. Have an introductory call on the phone or introduction in person and choose whom to work with in the future

Get started right here.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.